


i'm gonna love you to death

by lovelivesinthedream



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 07:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5819107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelivesinthedream/pseuds/lovelivesinthedream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yifan asks Luhan to kill their rival's second-in-command. It's not that simple.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'm gonna love you to death

**Author's Note:**

> originally written for deerofdawn on lj. in case you can't tell, i am pcy trash. i worked really hard on this, so i hope you'll like it. the title is 100% from taeyang's song by the same name. thanks to the mods, the prompter and anyone that reads/comments!

Yifan gives Luhan the assignment that starts it all.

“What’s good, boss?” asks Luhan while lazily making himself comfortable in one of the two leather chairs near the huge ornate fireplace. It’s more for decoration than functionality. No matter how large the fire is, or how long it burns, there’s always a distinct chill in the air.

Then again, it might just be a residual effect from the business they’re in and the lifestyle they grew up with – icy hearts creating frosty living conditions, or something like that.

“I’m glad you finally made it, punk,” Yifan says with a gummy smile. He ruffles Luhan’s honey blond hair with his giant hand as he walks by, chuckling softly at Luhan’s annoyed grunt. “I was beginning to worry that my mom was going to keep you in China forever. It’s been difficult without my best man here.”

A smug grin flits across Luhan’s lips. He knows he’s the best, but it never gets old hearing other people say it. He glances around the fancily decorated room pointedly and shrugs.

“Looks like you’ve done pretty well to me.”

“Ha, yeah. Everything was going smoothly, but not now. We have a problem,” is the answer he gets after a long minute. With tired eyes and a heavy sigh, Yifan settles in the high-backed chair in front of him. It’s the best seat in the room. There are a few short grey hairs near his left ear and new frown lines on his face. He looks older than his age these days.

Luhan wastes no time in shoving his feet in Yifan’s lap. It’s something he never would dare to do at the main headquarters back in Guangzhou, but Yifan’s in charge here in Seoul. Even though he’s trying to play the part of an unfeeling tyrant so his mother will allow him to keep the South Korean branch of the family business for himself, the house is already infinitely more relaxed here. It might be because he’s not nearly as old-fashioned and strict as his mother, or maybe it’s because the people he brought with him are all friends he grew up with – the familiar group is downstairs waiting for them even now to have a celebratory dinner, happy to have everyone together once again. Luhan feels more comfortable now. Here. More able to relax and play around without fear of getting punished. Yifan is their friend, and he’s good boss. He has their unwavering loyalty. There’s not a thing Luhan wouldn’t do for him.

Pushing Luhan’s feet away, Yifan scoffs and unceremoniously drops a folder in his lap.

“Kim Junmyeon’s gone off the grid. Reports are saying he went underground with that kid he was seeing, Kim Jongdae. Wanted a new life away from all this, I guess.” Yifan snorts and shakes his head. Luhan knows what he’s thinking: nobody ever really gets away. Even if those two get new identities and run to the ends of the Earth, they’ll always be watching their backs, praying nobody finds them.

“Do you want me to hunt them down?” Luhan asks, curious.

Yifan shakes his head again. “No. Junmyeon and I had a good alliance while it lasted. We never would have been able to grow here if his organization hadn’t backed us up. Let him try to be happy while he can. Someone else will get him eventually.” Yifan almost looks sorry about it.

Luhan nods, lips pursed thoughtfully. He’d heard from weekly check-ins with Yixing and Zitao that there had been tons of small name gangs trying to play gangster when Madame Wu first sent them over to Seoul. The Wu clan was strong and capable enough to take them out, but there were just so many – it would have taken forever. It took the young, but highly respected leader of the Kim crime family to finally get people to take Yifan seriously. They’d had a mutually beneficial arrangement ever since.

Until now, it seems.

“Unfortunately, he left everything to his most trusted underling, Do Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo is ruthless – my mother would love him, he’s so cold. I believe that because Junmyeon did business with me, and they were close friends, Kyungsoo will also be willing to at least meet and discuss the possibility of an alliance. He’s smart. I’m sure I could convince him it’d be worth it.”

“So what’s the problem?” Luhan asks with a frown.

Yifan sighs and leans forward, tapping the folder in Luhan’s lap. “Park Chanyeol. I’m not quite sure what their relationship is, but it’s been reported that the only person Kyungsoo listens to is this guy. His official role is second in command, but it looks like they’re basically equal partners in everything but name. And, because my life is a joke,” Yifan laughs humorlessly, “there’s simply no way Chanyeol will agree to work with me. I used to mess around with his older sister when I first got here.” Yifan frowns down at his hands, eyes lost in memories of the past. “Got her involved in some pretty shitty stuff. The only reason Chanyeol didn’t try to kill me when he found out is because Junmyeon forbid it. Even offered to pay for her rehab, I think.”

Luhan hums noncommittally – he’s in absolutely no position to pass judgement on Yifan considering the questionable things he’s done  – and opens the manila folder. The first thing that greets him are two photographs. The guy in the first picture is tall, legs looking impossibly long in his tailored suit; he must be at least as tall as Yifan. His hair is dark, maybe black, and his ears are big. He’s scowling at something on his phone in the photo, face stormy and dark while standing just outside a large grey building. Luhan doesn't bother to look at the other photo yet, too distracted with the stack of pages filled with information he finds beneath it: birthday, hobbies, allergies, address, frequent places he visits. All sorts of things to help Luhan with his assignment. Overall, the target looks lanky, not very strong. Easy to take out.

“You want me to get rid of him?” he guesses.

Yifan nods with a severe downward slant to his lips. He leans even closer, elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped together. His eyes are grave and serious.

“You have to take it slow, Han. He can’t just be taken out with a poisoned drink or a shot to the head. Kyungsoo would suspect us in a second, and then everything would turn to shit.” Yifan’s voice lowers even further, his eyes holding enough concern to put Luhan on edge.

“I need you to get close to him and make it look like an accident, but you have to be careful. I mean it, okay? He’s dangerous. Junmyeon didn’t keep him close for the hell of it. Kyungsoo doesn’t rely on him just for fun. Park Chanyeol is a dangerous guy, and I need you to be careful.” He sighs and looks away, frowning to himself again. “Jackson and Amber heard about him in the States last year. The crazy bastard burned an entire forest down in Arizona for something to do. Created a wild-fire that killed at least four people and left a lot more injured because he was bored on vacation.”

Luhan glances over the photograph again, flipping to the second picture where the target is laughing with his mouth wide open and his head thrown back, oversized hoodie draped across shoulders that are obviously shaking in mirth. No matter what Yifan says, the guy in the pictures looks more like an ordinary college kid than a cold-blooded killer with a penchant for arson. He can’t reconcile the two in his head. Not wanting to make Yifan, both his friend and boss, worry more than he already has to, Luhan nods as if he’s taking the warning seriously even though he’s not worried at all.

“Okay, boss.” He tries to look appropriately businesslike instead of excited about his newest job. It's been too long since he's gotten to do something fun. “I’ll get close to him. Put this face to work like I did back home. Nobody can resist for long, and when I have him madly in love with me, I’ll make his death look like a tragic accident,” he says confidently. “I promise it’ll be fine.”

Yifan doesn’t look convinced.

  
*****

Luhan thinks that Chanyeol doesn’t look like a challenge; in that second photograph he’s given Chanyeol is laughing with friends, carefree and kind of goofy. Despite Yifan’s insistence that he needs to be careful because Chanyeol is Do Kyungsoo’s most trusted ally and a very dangerous man, Luhan is mostly just amused by Yifan’s concern. However, he did agree to heed the warning, so he tries to do his best not to get ahead of himself.

Luhan is good with a gun and other types of dealing death, but his best weapon is his face. It’s easiest to use his good looks to get people to let their guard down until he’s close enough to take them out. He’s convinced it’ll be a simple task to get Chanyeol interested in him, and then strike when Chanyeol least expects it. It's worked hundreds of times before. There's no reason it won't work this time, too.

The next week is spent doing reconnaissance and laying some groundwork. Sure, the file on Park Chanyeol is filled with a lot of information, but it’s not really the same as seeing it with his own eyes. He needs to get a feel for it himself.

On Sunday night, after freshly dying his hair dark brown to blend in better, he starts at the billiards club that’s listed in the file as one of Park’s frequent hangouts. It’s crowded when he walks in, filled with groups of older men playing tense games around the tables near the front to pass the time before they have to return to their dull lives. Their wives probably think they’re all at some business meeting or working late at the office. Luhan’s grateful his job is one that can never get old.

Closer to the back of the room is where all the younger guys are. Two particularly boisterous punks are half-drunk, battling with the cue sticks like swords. One of them is tall and blond, wide shouldered and thin. He’s model hot. The other guy is shorter, chestnut colored hair falling in to eyes that disappear like crescents and a mouth that squares when he smiles and laughs, loud and scratchy. He’s pretty hot, too.

Luhan thinks he’ll have to come back when this is all over. Chat them up. See how fast he can get them on their knees. With his face and charm, he doubts it would take long.

There are a handful of other people milling around. One guy is intently watching a game on the television above the bar. The bartender is a busy drying glasses and rearranging them on the packed shelf. There’s an empty stool at the very end of the bar closest to the door, and it has a clear view of the back tables. If Chanyeol plays, then he’ll play back there. Luhan settles in, makes himself comfortable. He orders a drink so he won’t look too suspicious. He drinks it casually, pretending to be focused on the game on the television while keeping an eye out for his mark.

By the end of the night, he’s figured out the especially loud young guys are named Sehun and Baekhyun simply because of how often they shout at each other and bicker.

Chanyeol doesn’t show, but there’s always next time.

 

Monday morning, Luhan scopes out the corner convenience store near Chanyeol’s sky-rise apartment. A few students in neatly pressed uniforms with forest green jackets and black skirts are getting quick snacks on their way to school. They blush and giggle behind their hands when he smiles at them, bowing quickly and walking around them to get to the coffee machine. He can tell by the smell that it’s a burnt, cheap blend, but he’s desperate. This will have to do until he can stop at a proper café on his way to his next stop.

The store is pretty small. All he can see is the counter with a register, wall of cigarettes and lottery tickets behind it, three short rows of snacks and candy and ramen, the coffee and soda machine counter, and the back and side walls filled with various drinks and refrigerated foods. There’s not much here.

At the register he notices a help wanted sign as he pays for his cup of sludge. The tired cashier stifles a yawn and hands him an application, warning him the part-time position is the early shift. “I’m filling in until we get someone new, and I can tell you from experience that it sucks.”

Luhan grins, bright and fake, but practiced enough to look real. “Good thing I love early mornings.” The cashier stares at him like he’s crazy as he quickly fills out the application, using the fake identity information Yifan had someone secure for him. Probably, Zitao, the terrible brat.

The cashier snorts when he sees his name. Luhan firmly ignores how irritated it makes him, hiding his dismay behind a smile. He waves over his shoulder as he leaves.

He spends the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon camped out in the bookstore directly across the street from Chanyeol’s apartment building. It’s a classy, comfortable place. There are tables in front of the wall of windows for people to read at. In the far back corner is even a separate coffee chain. It smells like heaven when he gets a cup, and it tastes like bliss on his tongue.

 

Tuesday is filled with training with Zitao. Luhan has always relied on his good looks. His beautiful features have captured the attention of more men and women than he can count. One bat of his long eyelashes, one playful glance from his sparkling brown eyes, or just a small, coy curl of his lips can bring people to their knees. Each of them fall in the palm of his hand, ensnared in his trap before they even know what’s happening and all because they let their guard down for a pretty face.

He’s positive it’ll be that simple with Park Chanyeol, but there’s no reason not to brush up on his other skills, too. Luhan may not have the sheer flexibility and physical prowess of that Zitao has. He’s maybe not quite as cunning and quick as Yixing, either. But he’s well adept at defending himself and incapacitating others, no matter what Zitao’s smug grin might suggest otherwise as he helps Luhan up off the mat for the third time.

Handling a gun is easier, less bruising to his ego and his body. His aim, though not always perfect, is good enough that his target won’t survive. When he reels the paper in, it’s littered with bullet holes in all the most vulnerable, fatal places: head, heart and stomach. And yeah, okay, so there’s also a few holes through the left arm and above the left ear, but the paper is definitely down for the count, so he considers himself successful. Yixing and Zitao laugh him out of the room, giggling to themselves that it’s a good thing Luhan’s pretty.

 

Wednesday morning, he’s woken before the crack of dawn by the shrill ringing of the phone. His voice is rough and sleep filled when he answers it. His mind instantly flips from replaying the dream he’d been having about falling over the Great Wall to wide awake when the hesitant voice on the end asks if he’s still interested in the part-time job at the convenience store.

One steaming shower, a cinnamon raisin bagel, and a cup of real coffee from the café down the street later finds Luhan signing his fake name on the papers, agreeing to work. Afterwards, he’s standing bright eyed at the register where he’s pretending to listen to the manager go over how everything works. Technically, he’s supposed to watch today and try it himself tomorrow, but Luhan doesn’t like having people watch his every move. He smiles winningly and charms his way into checking out a few customers under his manager’s supervision, and once it’s obvious that he already knows his way around the machine, the manager pats himself on the back – as if Luhan’s success is any thanks to his crappy teaching method – and wanders back to his office, leaving Luhan on his own.

It’s tedious and boring, but not for long. The first few customers are high school students, stopping in for a quick bite to eat on their way to school. They glance away shyly as soon as Luhan greets them, not looking up again from behind the curtains of the hair until their outside the store, taking pictures with their phones through the windows. A very handsome boy comes through, uniform all neatly pressed and perfectly buttoned up. When he gets to the register he’s on his phone, scrolling through twitter. Luhan laughs softly to himself when he scans the kid’s chocolate milk and gummy bears, and the kid finally looks up, face instantly turning crimson as he splutters out that it’s not for him, it’s for a friend, he’s too manly for chocolate milk and gummy bears!

“Hey! What’s wrong with liking candy?!” a deep voice asks in mock offense from behind the kid. The kid turns and mutters some more nonsense before scurrying out the door with his purchase. Luhan’s shocked for a single second, but he hides it impeccably behind a soft smile.

Game time.

“Do you have a sweet tooth?” he asks, making sure to flutter his eyelashes. He leans forward, dropping his voice to the sultry, low tone that makes people shiver with temptation. “I’ve heard I’m pretty sweet, if you want something to suck on.”

Chanyeol stares at him blankly for a solid thirty seconds in complete silence with an unreadable expression and flinty eyes. Luhan won’t admit it to anyone, ever, but he’s almost nervous when he realizes the display of lighters is less than four inches to his right on the counter. Maybe hitting so boldly on somebody that likes to play with fire wasn’t such a great idea.

But before his palms can get too sweaty, Chanyeol throws his head back and laughs, mouth wide and sound so loud and goofy that Luhan feels an involuntary smile start to tug at his own lips.

“You’re very straightforward, I’ll admit. It’s refreshing. But,” Chanyeol’s pouts like it actually pains him to have to point this out, “I don’t even know your name yet. I don’t go down on people without names, no matter how good their pickup lines are.”

Luhan brightens and leans closer, feeling brave and reckless. So what if Yifan told him to be careful? He's always been able to take care of himself, and this guy is about as scary looking as a wet puppy. “I’m good at more than pickup lines, I assure you. Let’s exchange names, and you can find out first hand sometime. At dinner, maybe?” Luhan asks, pointing to his nametag and waiting expectantly.

“Saseum? Like deer?” Chanyeol laughs again, eyes shining.

“My grandmother had a nickname for me when I was small – Xiǎolù, or little deer. My parents decided it should be my Korean name when we moved here.” Luhan grunts out the stupid fake story about the name Zitao had chosen for him. Although, only part of the story isn’t true. His grandmother really does call him little deer.

Instead of making fun of the nickname like all the guys back home often do, Chanyeol simply nods knowingly, expression turning earnest. “Nicknames from family aren’t always the best, but they mean well. I’m sure your grandmother loves you very much. Ah, I’m Park Chanyeol, by the way,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “And I’d love to take you out to dinner.”

Luhan eyes disappear in pleased crescents when he grins.

*****  


The task is too easy after that.

Luhan and Chanyeol have dinner at a cheap pizza place where the waiter knows his order as soon as Chanyeol walks in. He blushes cutely when Luhan cheekily asks if he goes there a lot, but it doesn’t stop him from kindly pulling out Luhan’s chair for him before they sit. The night goes surprisingly well.

Chanyeol is fun to talk to. Music is his passion, and he plays more instruments than he can name. A few times a week he teaches piano lessons, and on the afternoons on weekends he volunteers to play at nursing homes for the elderly. His mother and father own a couple of successful restaurants in the area, and his older sister works for a fashion magazine.

There’s an easy answer to each and every of Luhan’s questions. Not once does Chanyeol stall to think up a lie or try to avoid responding. He cracks dumb jokes and laughs too loud, but it’s cute. When he realizes he’s done most of the talking, he tries to ask questions about things Luhan likes, life in China, and small talk to pass the time. Even though they’ve only meant once, earlier that very day, in fact, it’s not awkward or difficult. Chanyeol doesn’t pull away when Luhan bumps their knees together under the table, but he also doesn’t take it any further than that for now. It’s strange because normally people jump at the very first hint that Luhan is even slightly interested, and yet, Chanyeol simply continues to tell a funny story about a friend of his.

Yifan’s voice echoes through his head, warning him to be careful. Luhan snorts to himself, amused, because so far Chanyeol is about as threatening as a newborn giraffe. After dinner he easily agrees to meet again tomorrow night, pretending to need directions to the billiards club he’s already scoped out.

Chanyeol doesn’t show up at the store the next morning, but Luhan manages to entertain himself by flirting with all the customers. Nothing is quite as funny as the alarming shade of red that narrow-minded straight men turn when another man hits on them. His manager asks him to please be more professional at one point until Luhan starts eating a hot dog right in front of him, completely distracting his boss mid-reprimand.

That’s almost as funny.

When his shift is over he heads back to the apartment he’s staying at for now. He takes a quick shower, letting the steaming water sooth his tense muscles. Then he naps until he has to force himself to get up and put on the black jeans that hug his thighs and t-shirt he knows for a fact makes him look boyish and cute.

The billiards club has mostly the same crowd as the last time he went. The older people are playing towards the front, a few people are at the bar to catch the game on the television, and the younger group of people is towards the back. Chanyeol is already in the middle of playing with the loud blond one from last time, Sehun, when Luhan walks in. He takes a minute before announcing his arrival, observing Chanyeol’s behavior when he doesn’t know Luhan’s watching. He expects to see a different side of Chanyeol, a crack in his carefully constructed façade that will expose his real nature. Yifan says Park Chanyeol is a dangerous man, and Luhan is waiting to see any proof of that at all.

But as he watches from across the room, all Luhan is able to see is how _happy_ Chanyeol is. Chanyeol laughs just as freely as he had the day before. He jokes around with Sehun, bumping shoulders when they walk around each other to set up their shots. When Sehun misses his shot, he hides his giggle behind his hands, eyes scrunched up and nose wrinkled cutely as his shoulders shake. Sehun pouts until Chanyeol laughs and gives him half a hug, saying he’ll do better next time.

Luhan walks over to greet them, grinning and bowing politely. Chanyeol introduces Sehun as a friend from school, and Sehun waggles his eyebrows suggestively when Chanyeol says he and Luhan are on a date. Chanyeol blushes, ear tips turning red, and he pushes Sehun away until Sehun gets the hint and stumbles off to let them carry on. The evening is spent with Luhan acting as if he doesn’t know how to aim for shit, and Chanyeol kindly guiding him through each shot. Luhan tries to suppress the shiver that runs down his spine each time Chanyeol comes up behind him, leaning flush against his back as his arms reach around to help Luhan into the correct placement. Luhan is no stranger to attraction, but he knows he needs to hold off for now. This is supposed to be the long game he’s playing at, and sleeping with Chanyeol tonight would mess things up in the long-run.

By the time the night ends, he’s stumbling out of the billiards club, breathlessly laughing at a joke Chanyeol’s told. Chanyeol’s hand burns through his clothes, heating the skin of his lower back as Chanyeol helps steady him. They pause on the street corner, laughter dying off, and he looks up through his eyelashes. Chanyeol’s grinning softly, cheeks flushed and eyes shining.

“I think I might like you, Saseum,” he whispers, leaning down slowly. Luhan licks his lips and closes the last space between them, gently brushing their mouths together. It’s chaste and cute, bringing an electric buzz to life under his skin.

He steps away after only a second and watches with amusement as Chanyeol shyly ducks his head. “Maybe I’ll get to show you how sweet I am, after all,” he laughs with a gentle tease to his tone. Chanyeol looks up, eyes dark and wide, pretty, and he grins.

“Maybe. I look forward to it.”

 

*****

 

Over the next few weeks they meet a lot. They go to a movie, dinner, an amusement park, a boring museum and a zoo. During each of these encounters, Chanyeol appears exactly like he had in the picture. Harmless and silly. A bit obnoxious. He jokes around with friends with a booming laugh and touchy hands. He’s a little clumsy. Luhan isn’t worried at all.

Chanyeol is charming and loud and funny. Luhan lets his guard down completely. He can’t believe for even a moment that Chanyeol has anything to do with Do Kyungsoo. Someone must have had faulty information. For one thing, Chanyeol’s mentioned a lot of friends, but Kyungsoo’s name hasn’t come up even once. Nor has Junmyeon or Jongdae, for that matter. And for another thing, there’s just no way he could be that good at acting the whole entire time. There’s not a person alive that would be able to hide the kind of darkness that Yifan had insisted that Chanyeol possessed. Luhan doesn’t believe with a single part of him that Chanyeol is anything other than what he appears to be: a handsome, kind, funny and helpful guy that’s a little clumsy and really sweet.

However, Yifan _did_ ask him to kill Park Chanyeol, and Luhan will do anything for Yifan. He doesn’t necessarily agree that Chanyeol should die, especially now that he’s absolutely convinced that Chanyeol has nothing to do with the Wu family, Kim family or Do Kyungsoo. And yeah, okay, maybe he’s accidentally gone and grown fond of Chanyeol, but still… Yifan must have his reasons for wanting Chanyeol dead. It’s Luhan’s job to do as he’s asked.

He’ll enjoy him now for all these free dates, and good laughs, but he won’t forget his mission. Or so he tries to tell himself. Deep, deep down he knows that it’s more complicated than that now. Chanyeol means more to him than he was ever meant to. It's hard for him to imagine living in a world without Chanyeol's cheesy jokes and easy smiles. He's not sure if he can snuff out such a bright star, knowing it will surely cast his life in darkness. He's not sure of much anymore.

He avoids Yifan's calls.  


*****

  
He sleeps with Chanyeol after a rained on attempt at a picnic four months in.

They’re both soaking wet, clothes clinging to their shivering bodies and a fire of want warming them up from the inside. Luhan shoves Chanyeol down on the bed the second they’re both naked, laughing when Chanyeol’s foot is still stuck in his pants. Chanyeol kisses him softly, deeply, breathing Luhan in like oxygen. Luhan’s slept with a lot of people in his life, people captivated by his face and unaware of his real intentions, and it’s always enjoyable. Some were much better than others, to be sure, but he’s never felt anything quite like this before. For one thing, he’s not fearing for his safety, wondering if this is the moment he’ll get a knife between the rips, as he lies pliant beneath Chanyeol’s careful touches and searing lips. For another thing, nobody has ever treated him so gently. Lovingly. As if Luhan is precious and irreplaceable. 

Just like that all his suspicions fly out the window. Yifan is all wrong, and Chanyeol is more likely to trip and hurt himself than he is to ever hurt Luhan.

Or so he thinks.

  
When he wakes up the next morning, he’s disorientated and sore in more ways than he should be. Sex has never left he feeling quite so aching and brusied, even the rough encounters he's had. Something is out of the ordinary.

He groggily tries to look around only to notice he’s definitely not in Chanyeol's soft bed, surrounded by warm blankets with an octopus of a man beside him. Instead, he’s tied to a chair, none other than Do Kyungsoo watching him with a victorious quirk to his lips a few feet in front of him, and Chanyeol leaning against the wall, flipping a sharp knife expertly in his hand.

Even through his foggy thoughts, he’s struck by how out of character Chanyeol appears. He’s not clumsy now. There’s nothing silly or soft about him. His eyes are sharp and predatory, calculating as he watches Luhan like a wolf closing in on its prey. He holds himself tall, confident.

_Dangerous._

Glancing around, Luhan notices they aren’t even in Chanyeol’s warm apartment. It’s a warehouse down by the docks most likely because that’s where these types of things always happen. He should know; he's done things to people in places like this often enough. Boxes and crates are lining the walls. Dim lighting from overhead lights reveals the crimson dragon that marks Yifan’s territory decorating the wall near the door.

"Tell me, did Yifan really think we would't recognize the pretty face of the Wu family's deadliest weapon? Tales of your beauty reach far past the borders of China," Do Kyungsoo says, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.

Luhan feels like such an idiot. It's never occurred to him that people might know of him. Yifan hasn't ever brought it up or seemed overly concerned. Most of the people that met Luhan ended up dead anyway. He supposes it was arrogant to assume nobody would suspect him.

Kyungsoo grins darkly. “In any case, I'm growing bored of this game. It's no fun when we're so far out of your league that you don't even realize we're playing. And now here we are." He waves a hand to gesture to the entirety of the warehouse. "We wanted to leave this message for Yifan somewhere he is sure to find it.”

Luhan swallows thickly. This can’t be happening. It must be some sort of sick joke. Chanyeol, _his_ Chanyeol, isn’t capable of something like this. There’s no way that the silly, adorable guy he’s been dating for the last two months is Do Kyungsoo’s right hand man. Even though Luhan has poured over the file Yifan gave him a hundred times, memorized every word and every grain of the picture, he has still been unable to reconcile Park Chanyeol, second-in-command as the same guy that he’s been falling for. It doesn’t make any sense.

Luhan’s never felt so lost before.

Kyungsoo signals with a flick of his fingers for Chanyeol to get to work. Chanyeol moves instantly without question. 

“No, no,” Luhan gasps, desperate. “What are you doing? Chanyeol! I don’t understand!”

Chanyeol moves with a grace and fluidity that Luhan hasn’t seen in him before. It’s like a mask has slipped off, the veil parted for Luhan to finally view the monster that lays hiding under the surface. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. Chanyeol throws the glinting knife with a flick of his wrist from across the room. It lands, unwaveringly, in Luhan’s right shoulder, and he throws his head back to cry out in pain.

“Fuck,” he hisses in anguish and disbelief. Fuzzily, he thinks back to the billiards hall. All this time, he hasn’t once wondered how Chanyeol’s aim was so good. So precise. He silently curses himself for such an obvious blunder. What a goddamn rookie mistake. He’s supposed to be better than that, but he let himself get cocky, too sure that his good looks were all he’d need to get the job done.

Chanyeol stalks closer, smirking darkly. It’s strangely attractive, and Luhan thinks he must be so far gone if he can still find Chanyeol beautiful like this. Chanyeol yanks his head back by his hair, baring his throat to press the cold blade against it.

Luhan swallows, staring up searchingly, but Chanyeol's eyes are suddenly foreign, unrecognizable. Luhan refuses to let the tears building up in his eyes fall. “Did it mean anything? Was it ever real?”

Chanyeol chuckles, the deep sound reverberating through Luhan’s bones and pushing the steel further against his skin. He presses his lips to Luhan’s ear and says, vicious and cruel, “As real as you were.” And well, that _hurts_ in ways Luhan didn’t even know he could be hurt.

Luhan doesn’t look away, _can’t_ look away, from Chanyeol’s deep brown eyes or the harsh curl of his lips when the knife drags across of throat.

So this is how it ends? Bleeding out in one of Yifan’s many secret warehouses? Luhan can’t believe he has let himself come to this. A whole lifetime of training, of shady deals and illegal activities and this is what does him in.

He thinks of his grandmother petting his hair when he was sick as a child, humming a sweet song and telling him everything would be okay. His mother’s terrified expression, and the too tight hug they’d shared when he’d left for Seoul. Zitao and Yixing picking on him good-naturedly at practice last week, and a childhood of growing up sneaking around with Yifan to avoid Madame Wu’s cold eyes. There are so many people he’s leaving behind; he’ll never see them again. He hopes they’ll know they meant everything to him.

Luhan feels a rush of emotions as the life begins to ebb out of him. There’s shame that he failed Yifan. Embarrassment that he let himself be played, that he fell right for this trap laid out before him. Heartache that Chanyeol’s touch still burns even as his limbs begin to feel numb. His heart flops uselessly in the bottom of his chest when Kyungsoo steps closer, grinning as he reaches up to ruffle Chanyeol’s hair, and Chanyeol leans into it, beaming when Kyungsoo tells him he did a good job.

In that moment he looks happier than Luhan's ever seen him. Brighter than any star in the sky. 

In his last seconds before darkness blackens his vision, he thinks that Yifan was right. Chanyeol is far more dangerous than Luhan gave him credit for, but he can’t find it in himself to regret any of it. With the last breath he gasps out, “I might have loved you.”

And then it’s all over.

**Author's Note:**

> p.s. i'm sorry about the ending! it hurts me, too!  
> are any of you going to the nyc concert? i'm going with my friend that's never listened to k-pop before (except lalala by bigbang, three times, four years ago. it doesn't count.) it'll be really great to finally meet some other k-pop/exo fans ^_^


End file.
